Customer Reviews

Jet 708717 JRB-14 6-Inch Riser Block

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I recently purchased a Jet 14 inch closed base bandsaw. It works great. Before I ordered any blades for it, I decided to get the Riser block first. The Riser block increases your cutting height from 6 to 12 inches. Your band saw blade size will then go from 93 1/2 inches to 105 inches. If you need this, get it before you buy any blades because your old blades will be too short. This is not an item that you can take off at any time. It is a permanent option. The Riser Block was very easy to install. You remove the big bolt that holds the top wheel support the the bottom and add the Riser block and use the new bolt to secure it. The kit comes with a metal rear blade guard. The one that came with my saw was plastic. The only tricky part was lifting off the upper wheel and reattaching it. Since it is fastened at the back, it wanted to tip forward. With me Riser installed, I can resaw fire wood and thick beams into boards. Think of all the flavors of wood you can now use for projects.

...no matter where I looked, Including JET's own site, I could not come up with a listing of included parts, and the tiny picture of kit found on everyone's web site is nearly useless. Sure I trust JET -- but only to a point. For those like me who have modified their bandsaw with accessories like the Carter de-tensioner, or roller bearings, rest assured this kit will still fit, and you won't lose any functionality.

The parts in my kit were as follows:

1. Rear blade guard (metal, not the cheezy plastic that came with the saw)

2. Longer v-grooved shaft for the front/upper blade guard, enabling your upper guides to extend all the way to the table-top. Read the instructions carefully to install this one, or you'll be chasing a very small ball-bearing around your shop.

3. Front Blade Guard -- sheet metal, just like the original, but with an adjustable extension. Mine didn't quite fit the bolt holes, even on the OEM guide, but a couple passes with a file fixed it in short order.

4. Cast Aluminum Riser Block and hold-down screw.

5. 105" saw blade -- toss it out and buy a TimberWolf brand.

Assembly was a snap. Mine went together in about 20 minutes. The hardest part was balancing the upper roller assembly while tightening the hold-down screw. Not really too big of an issue, but a third hand to hold the bolt steady while you hand-tighten the nut would be helpful. Alternately, you could do as I did and use a piece of tape on the bolt head to keep it from turning as you snug the nut.

After it's all set according to included instructions, you may want to go one step further and tap a 10-32 hole in the back of the original lower cast aluminum bracket. It will allow you to re-use the original power cable loom (W shaped bracket) and thus keep the power cords from chafing on the lower blade door. The instructions don't call for this, but it's never a good idea to allow power cords to rub against sheet metal.

I added the riser block to the 14" closed stand Jet bandsaw. The installation was easy, the instructions straightforward. With the added height, I can now resaw some serious wood! Just a note, if you are thinking of buying this, you will need all new blades. The standard ones will not fit after you put in the riser.

This would take 2 people with the right tools about 10 minutes. It took me 1 hour...mainly because I don't have a 15/16" wrench and my adjustable pliers would barely fit. Furthermore, my attmpt at hanging the upper arm from the rafters while tigtening the bolt 1/4" turn at a time was...uhh...nearly very dangerous. I am glad I made the purchase, but in the future would love to have known that I needed allen keys, and a crescent wrench set and someone to hold the upper arm while I tightened the nut. This thing is rock-solid, and makes resawing 12" quite the pleasure.

Just installed this today but could not get blade to track in the middle of bottom wheel. Using a straightedge I determined that the top wheel was not aligned with the bottom one. This was a new saw so had never used it without the riser block. I removed the riser block and reassembled the saw, tensioned the blade, and the blade tracked right in the center of the bottom wheel so it appears that the riser block has the alignment holes or pins in the wrong place. Amazon has already responded with a ship date and I expect to have the replacement block in a couple of days. Amazon gets an A for handling this promptly. I will post again once I install the new riser.

***** Update ***** Received replacement riser block within 2 days after ordering. Installed it today and problem solved. Blade tracks in center of bottom wheel.

If you do a lot of resaw or as in my case, make a lot of bandsaw box's this is a great addition. As other's have mentioned its a two person job, but the instructions and materials are top notch.I would also reccommend that you add Carter type guides to your saw at the same time. These really help with the resaw aspect and are a must for the small blades used in making bandsaw box's. The included blade wasn't much but I didnt think it would be, so no dissappointment there. The rest of the parts were good quality and everthing fit well. Took about twenty minutes to install and a few more minutes of adjusting. Thanks to the other reviewer for the tip on reinstalling the power cord. With a Timber Wolf 3/4" resaw blade I can now square up larger pieces of "firewood" to use for my bandsaw box's and it also enables me to get away from the 6x6 dimension that was my standard. I would reccommend this add on to anyone wishing to increase the size of material they can work with.

I rate a 4 of 5 on the basis that the block itself is very solid with an easy install (can be a bit clumsy with one person, but if you can build the regular saw from the kit, you can definitely do this). The only working problem that I have had with it is that the greater blade length means that any wobble in the blade can cause rubbing easier on the return side of the blade.

As the other reviews have said, if you plan on getting this in the future, do it before you buy blades due to the increased blade length.

However, think about whether you need to have a 12" resaw capacity before you buy; if you don't, don't spend the money on this, buy some extra blades. Just how often will you resaw and if you can't, how much trouble will it be?

On the other hand... More Power! Go for it.

I recently bought this riser block. I bought the band saw and riser block at the same time, but had to wait for the riser block to get off of backorder. So I was pretty excited to finally get the riser block and assemble the band saw.

The kit is very easy to assemble, even with my 105lb wife holding the band saw upper arm while I bolted it together - yeah, she's a sport.

However, once I got it assembled, it was obviously mis-aligned. The upper and lower guide bearings were off by over an inch - much to far to be usable. So, I called JET technical service to help me - thinking they would just send me a new one. The JET technician told me to "knock the pins out with a hammer." Wha? The pins are mounted in cast iron with no through holes. He assures me it will work, so I try. As you can imagine, all I ended up with was mushroomed pins. So I call the technical service line again. The second guy tells me that most of these riser blocks (90% according to him) have this problem, and the instructions were supposed to include how to remove these pins. He tells me to pull he pins out with pliers.

Well, thank goodness Amazon customer service is better than JET's. I returned the block to Amazon and a new one is on route. I hope this one is better.

2 stars for a useful product and a nod to Amazon's great customer service. However, this will be my last JET tool purchase. From now on I'll buy my expensive tools from a company that doesn't expect me to take a hammer to their product before it can be used.

The riser block installation was very straightforward. The parts were well-packaged and the instructions were thorough. The blade that comes with the assembly is sized correctly but not of the quality one would probably want to use long term. I purchased 105 inch Timberwolf blades and installed one of them when I installed the riser block. This really adds a nice capacity to my Jet bandsaw that I did not have before.

My 14" Jet band saw is now 4 years old and has worked well without any problems [except for poor dust pickup with the small dust port]. But I was limited to 6" for the height of a board to be cut. The riser block kit has solved this problem by increasing the max cutting height to 12". Installation was easy. Simply follow the detailed step by step directions and in about 30 minutes the job is completed. All the parts needed are included, along with a new blade. When you consider the low price of the kit along with free shipping and no sales tax, this is a great improvement to a quality saw!